2026 Outlook: Key Regulatory Changes in Finance and Technology

The real challenge of 2026 is not another regulation or another technology upgrade. It is the growing gap between how financial markets are expected to operate and how many institutions are still structured. Closing that gap will require 3 key changes to architecture, governance, and strategy — not just compliance projects.

In this article, I present 5 upcoming changes and trends that industry leaders must prepare for in the coming year.

1. Clearer Rules, Stronger Oversight - AIFMD II

Regulation will remain a key driver of change in 2026, with AIFMD II standing out as one of the most relevant updates for fund managers. Rather than introducing an entirely new framework, AIFMD II refines existing rules to improve clarity, consistency, and accountability across Europe.

2. Deregulation or Centralisation? Europe’s Productivity Dilemma

A growing narrative in Europe suggests that deregulation and simplification are needed to revive competitiveness. The argument is understandable: labour productivity in the euro area has been stagnating for years, while the gap to the United States — and increasingly to China — continues to widen, as illustrated by Eurostat and US data ESMA (1).

At first glance, Europe’s response appears contradictory. On the one hand, policymakers speak openly about reducing regulatory burden. On the other, ESMA is gaining more authority, expanding EU-level supervision, and positioning itself as a central data steward for European capital markets ESMA (1).

This is not deregulation in the traditional sense — it is regulatory consolidation.

3. Market Infrastructure & Operational Change: From Batch to Real Time

A quiet but fundamental shift in market infrastructure is underway. T+1 settlement is forcing institutions to process trades, reconcile positions, and manage risk faster than ever before. What used to work overnight now needs to work almost instantly — exposing weaknesses in legacy systems and manual workflows.

At the same time, SWIFT’s migration to ISO 20022 was a major industry shift replacing legacy MT messages with richer, structured MX messages{/nav} (XML) for global payments, aiming for better data, compliance, and efficiency, with the full switch completed in November 2025, retiring old formats and creating a unified global language for finance.

As regulators and supervisors push for more timely and reliable information, institutions are moving toward real-time monitoring models. This is accelerating the adoption of data contracts, streaming architectures, and event-driven systems using technologies such as Kafka, not as innovation projects, but as core operational infrastructure. Market speed is becoming a regulatory requirement — and architecture is now a supervisory concern.

4. Digital Assets and New Financial Technologies

Digital assets are steadily moving into the regulatory mainstream. Stablecoins, in particular, remain under close scrutiny as policymakers seek greater clarity around transparency, governance, and reserve backing — a focus that is expected to continue well into 2026. Beyond stablecoins, tokenisation and digital custody solutions are gaining traction within regulated frameworks. What is changing is not only the technology, but the supervisory mindset. Regulators increasingly treat technology risk as financial risk, placing digital infrastructure, controls, and resilience firmly within the scope of oversight.

For financial institutions, this means digital assets can no longer be managed at the edges of the organisation. They require the same level of governance, risk management, and operational discipline as traditional financial products — signalling a shift from experimentation to institutionalisation.

5. Chinese Asset Managers are rising in Europe - BVI signs a Memorandum with Asset Management Association of China

A recent Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the German Investment Funds Association (BVI) and the Asset Management Association of China (AMAC) underscores rising cooperation between European and Chinese market players.

The agreement focuses on mutual high-level exchange, industry conferences, seminars, and information sharing — signaling:

A willingness to deepen cross-border dialogue amid geopolitical tensions.
Potentially increasing interest among European firms in Far East markets and capital flows.
Greater engagement between European and Chinese asset managers, which may influence investment strategies and global product development.

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